The Pleiades—that little cluster of stars that makes wintertime stargazing so nice (among so many other other night-time delights) came in for some extra interest by Hubble Space Telescope recently. Astronomers wanted to determine the distance to this little grouping. It’s not always been easy to tell how far away they are, and in fact their distance has been the subject of controversy among astronomers.

Measurements made by the Hipparcos satellite suggested that they were closer to Earth than observers used to think. However, other astronomers measured the distance and found it to be farther out. HST’s studies found the same result: the Pleiades lie about 440 light-years away from us. The image above shows the Pleiades with Hubble’s field of view superimposed over parts of the cluster.

Why all the fuss? Because if those stars lay farther away (as Hipparcos suggested) their brightness wouldn’t match with what we know about star characteristics (particularly sun-like stars).

It may seem like a tweak in distance measurements, but it’s an important one if we are to understand how stars form and how they live. Astronomy is often like that— giving us tantalizing hints about the nature of objects and leaving it up to us to measure and chart the details.

So, if you’re a Pleiadean (one interested in this glittery little set of stars, not necessarily someone who thinks you’re from the Pleiades), take heart: from 440 light-years away, they’re helping us understand more about stars like our Sun.